by Ray Halbritter

About the author: Ray Halbritter represents the Oneida Indian Nation for the American Indian Program.

History shows that ever since the first Europeans came to North America, Indian people have been confronted with one challenge after another. Often, the challenge has been simple survival, as people and as sovereign nations. And just as we meet and conquer one challenge, another arises.

There's an old Indian joke about the race to the moon being started because white men believed there was Indian land there. I have often said that Indian people never have anything for very long before the white man tries to take it away. That is the situation confronting us today.

The problem is that after 200 years of neglect by the federal government, some Indian nations have seized the initiative and have begun using their...